


The Cat On The Ship From That Show

by snowzone5



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Awkward Meetings, Cat, F/M, Kissing, Mileven, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28734840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowzone5/pseuds/snowzone5
Summary: Mike is locked out of his apartment building. El to the rescue.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	1. The Cat Food Scam

**Author's Note:**

> Two or three chapters at most on this one.

Eleven liked her life. 

It was simple. Not too demanding, she had a good job that kept her healthy and where she didn’t mind working later hours, it meant she could sleep in every morning, still had the day to do whatever she wanted, and she still had the evening to herself. She was a night owl and tended to stay up late anyway. She could walk to work so she didn’t own a car.

Her life had been total chaos before her dad rescued her, and for the years they were together it had been rough, but they loved each other and that’s what counted.

For the most part, everybody had ignored her at school and she was fine with that. She liked to keep to herself. She didn’t really have any friends to hang out with… and of course her love life was sitting in the back of an ally in a dumpster somewhere. She definitely didn’t have one.

She was approaching her New York style Brownstone, when she saw someone sitting on the steps.

_ Shit. He’s got a bag of cat food. _

She approached carefully, ready to answer his spiel, and to physically deal with him if necessary.

“I know what you are thinking.” He had a deep and gentle voice. This guy would be perfect for the scam.

“Oh?”

“I’m sitting on the steps of the building you are about to enter.”

“And you have a bag of cat food.” She said.

“Yeah, and I have a bag of cat food. But it’s not what you think.”

“Let’s put it this way. I  _ don’t _ think you’ve been snacking on it. "

He laughed. “If I showed up with an empty bag of cat food, my...”

_ Oh he’s good. Very smooth.  _ “Please stop talking. I get it, you are trying something new, and maybe if I had been anyone else, you might have gotten away with it. Buddy, you don’t even want to try that shit with me. You would regret it once you woke up in the hospital. You know I'm not going to let you in, right?”

He sighed, but hit tone didn’t change. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Ok, I’m going to step away from the door, and sit over there with my legs crossed and my back to you. Then I’d like you to look under the bag.” He was walking away. “Ok, I don’t want to yell at this time of night, so I’m going twice as far as this, and when I sit down could you look under the bag? You’ll find a key to my apartment. I’m 435.”

The alarm went off in El’s head.  _ Shit, he’s right across the hall from me. If he actually lives here. I thought I had that whole building to myself, I didn’t know another apartment had been bought. These places aren’t cheap. _

The Cat Food Scam usually went like this: The guy gave you the bag, wanted you to feed his cat in some apartment, said his apartment was unlocked so you could get in. But he didn’t have his front door key. When you opened it, he knocked you out, tied you up, and went in to rob the apartments. 

But he was giving her a key? That’s not the way the scam went, so maybe this was a new twist to it.

He had to be fifty feet away now. He sat cross legged with back to her. There was no way he could rush her. He would never be there in time.

She walked toward him, completely unafraid. “You have your apartment key, but not the front door key? Let me guess. You lost it?”

“Yeah, and my wallet so I can’t even prove I live here. After I fed my cat I was going to be on the phone to work. See if I left it there.”

“You may not have your ID, but you can tell me who you are.”

“Mike Wheeler, apartment 435.”

“Where do you work that you can afford this place?”

“Ah, well, I couldn’t afford it where I work, although I make good money there. My apartment is paid for. Um, compensation for an accident. I think that’s all I’m allowed to say.”

_ Same as me. Mine is paid for. Took twelve years of my life but the government finally made good. Ok, gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. _

“What’s your cat’s name?”

“Frankie. Short for Frankenstein. Don’t call her that, though, she’ll think she’s in trouble. She’s very affectionate, please don’t let her out, she’s a rescue cat, only two years old, completely declawed, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself. I forgot to get food last night only realized an hour or so ago, I ran out to the corner store. She’s going to be worried.”

_ His voice sounds funny. He loves his cat.  _

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


_ There it is, 435. _ She looked across the hall to 434, where she lived.  _ I hope this guy is legit.  _ As she fumbled with the key, she thought she heard a cat meowing on the other side of the doo _ r. _

She opened the door, the first thing she saw was a key on the floor, along with a wallet and one of the keys, and an upside down wooden bowl on the floor. Looks like it had been knocked over from the little side table beside the doorway. The cat must have knocked it over. Like it was trying to tell him he’d forgotten all of this stuff.

El smiled to herself. Smart Cat. She went into the kitchen and looked around. He had simple tastes, but he needed a woman’s touch. 

She took the bowl and ripped it open, the cat was there in a flash, gave her a “Your not my dad” look, but she was hungry. 

“There you go Frankie.”

That cat looked at her again and headbutted her knee, but went right back to her food.

She sealed the bag, and put it on the counter.

She went over to where the wallet lay on the floor. She was conflicted, but she had reasonable cause. She picked it up and went through it. He had close to four hundred dollars in his wallet. His Id was in there, showing this address and apartment number. There was a union membership card. There was a post-it note that read, “Remix channel 11, something not quite right.”

She shrugged, she didn’t know what it meant. Was funny that it was channel 11 that wasn’t quite right. She smiled to herself again.

  
  


XXXXX

“Here’s the key you gave me.” He was still sitting about fifty feet away.

El walked up to him, he stood up, and turned around. She handed it to him. “Here’s the front door key, I found it on the floor, along with your key bowl and wallet. I left them there.”

“I’m sure you went through my wallet. All legit?”

“Yes. I had probable cause to go through it.”

“Um, don’t you have to be a police officer to do that?”

“Yes you do. Police Corporal Hopper, at your service.”


	2. Sleeping With Frankenstein

“Are you going to escort me home to make sure I’m safe and sound?”

“Yes I am.”  _ What am I doing? I don’t need to do that. I took one look at his eyes and I melted. Grow up Eleven! _

“Want to come in for tea? I don’t drink coffee. I have girly teas.” He smiled at her and El felt her knees get a little rubbery.

“Girly teas? I’m in.” El giggled like a school girl.  _ For shit’s sake El. Can you take it from oh, eleven down to a seven? You’re gushing. _

“You just getting off work? You can hang your coat over there, this place is drafty, but comes with a nice fireplace, Mike filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove.

He went to a coffee table and picked up a remote. Pressed a few buttons, and the fireplace lit up.

“Don’t you love these new gas stoves?” El said. I have the same model in my apartment.

“For what was paid, they should be gold trimmed. Go ahead, have a seat.”

El made the quick decision to  _ not _ sit in the single chair, but on the futon he had facing the fireplace. “You don’t have a TV?”

“It’s in my workroom. I don’t watch a lot of TV. I use it for my work mostly.”

“You never did say what you do.”

“I studied Acoustical Engineering at Purdue, West Lafayette, about an hour from here. I went from designing rooms built for various sound operations, I once met a guy at a trade convention who worked sound on “The Matrix”. Talked to him for a couple of hours and decided I wanted to do five point one engineering. If you want any more detail, It will bore you and put you to sleep.”

“Bore me.” El smiled at him. He looked at her kind of funny, then quickly looked away and suddenly seemed shy.

“I can show you my work room?” He pointed down the hallway.

El nodded, stood up and followed him.

Over his shoulder he said, “You don’t wear a uniform?”

“Ok, I may have stretched the police officer thing a little. I still am, but I’m currently on loan to Hawkins Gym. I teach women Krav Maga and Silat martial arts. Krav can be summed up by, ‘hurt them real bad and then get away’, neither it or Silat are about spiritual ascendancy or any existential mind expanding yoga sh… um. I was never in danger from you.”

_ I’m not going to tell him my  _ other _ ability.  _

“Ouch. Ouch. Thanks for the warning. I assumed as much like that when you mentioned the hospital.”

“Why is there a button on the door?”

“I work with sound, with a headset usually. I’ll never hear a knock. This flashes a light at me in my home studio.”

“Let me guess. Frankie knows how to push it.”

_ His face lit up when I mentioned his cat. I think he’s lonely. _

“Yeah, when she wants some tlc, or food. The light flashes. But only a few dozen times a day, so not too bad.”

El giggled. 

El walked into a NASA control room. “Holy shit! I’m sorry, I mean wow!”

“I get that a lot. One the left of the TV is a bank of call them _less expensive_ home audio receivers, but are still brand names, Sony, Yamaha, etc. On the right is _expensive._ Onkyo, Yamaha, and one of the guys that did the five point one mix for _The Matrix,_ actually uses a Denon for his home. I use those to test.”

“What is that?” El pointed.

“That is a Red 4 Pre, I didn’t have room for a full server rack or half rack, so I use that post rack. I needed a premium audio interface for Pro Tools HD.”

“Expensive?”

“Three grand. I’ll eventually upgrade. That’s a  Grace Design m905-BK Monitor Control System. ”

“What’s the big deal with sound?”

“You know what stereo is?”

El just gave him a look.

Mike held up his hands, “Ok, ok. What five point one is, stereo in front of you, stereo behind you, separate speaker for voice, and separate one for bass.”

“Ok.”

“You’re watching a scary monster movie, suddenly the demogorgon comes up behind you, with 5.1 you will look behind you, it sounds so realistic.”

El tried to keep her face neutral, “Demogorgon?”

“It’s a monster from D and D. Used to play it as a kid. It’s not real, don’t worry. Or in your case, you are watching a cop movie. Bad guy on the right side of the screen, shoots, but you hear the sound travel from left to right.”

El frowned. 

“Exactly. Stereo mixing is important in a movie. In five point one it’s  _ very _ important. In seven point two it’s critical.”

“And you can do all of that in this room?”

“Yeah. I’m slowly duplicating what I use at work.“

“So what about that Channel eleven note?”

Mike gave her a beautiful smile. Her knees were definitely wobbly now..

“Let’s go into the living room.”

He pulled out a tall chair from the breakfast nook. “Sit here. I’ve got a toy clicker. You close your eyes or I can blindfold you.”

“I’ll close my eyes.”

“Ok, but don’t open. Put your phone on video mode.”

She did so and Mike hooked it up to some contraption. “What’s that?”

It’s a Glyph, for cell phones to mount to a tripod, monopod, or ball mount. I have it on a miniature ball mount, and that’s screwed into a Platypod Ultra. Basically a shelf or ground level tripod.

“Ok, recording.”

  
  
  


XXXXX

  
  


El watched the video on her phone. Mike had a toy clicker, and he walked around her. Clicking it, sh e heard, “ok, keeping your eyes closed, point to where the sound is coming from.”

She did so as he clicked. 

Twice.

It happened twice, once behind her he clicked and she pointed off to somewhere high  _ in front  _ of her. One time he clicked in front of her and she pointed back down behind her at an angle.

“Ok that’s weird. I wasn’t anywhere close. With those two. What happened.”

“Humans have echo location. Not as good as bats, but in front of us, not too bad. Behind, meh, not so much. One ear receives the signal just slightly ahead of the other, your brain performs a few trillion calculations, and lets you know where it’s from.”

“But…”

“Right, so what I did, was I clicked the toy, right in between your ears, a few feet away. The sound hits your ears  _ at the exact same time. _ Your brain doesn’t know whether to shit or go blind, but performs the calculations based on what it got. It gets it horribly wrong but still tells you.”

“I’ve had that happen before!”

“Most people have, but they don’t know the reason. That’s the reason. I’m getting it on channel eleven for a movie I’m working on. But I shouldn’t be. I’ll figure it out. You bored to tears yet?”

“This is interesting.”

“Acoustics is very interesting. Alexander Graham Bell was trying to find some what to help his deaf… um, mother I think. We ended up with the telephone as a result.”

Eleven decided she could listen to Mike talk about anything all night long. 

_ I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I wonder if it’s just hormones… _

Mike put the chair away and they sat on the sofa.

Frankie jumped up on El’s lap. Started head butting her hand.

“Scratch behind the ears. She loves that.”

“Mike.” El was horrified. “What happened to his feet?”

“Ah, well, I needed animal shelter sounds, so I was walking through with my Zoom H6, and I saw Frankie. She didn’t have a name. Her feet were in bandages, and you could see she was still bleeding. So I asked what was wrong, declawed, but not professionally. I asked what could be done. It’s a veterinary clinic, so expensive searching to fix. I asked how much, I paid it and adopted her. She’s my only family now.”

“Oh?”

“I might as well tell you, you can look up my records anyway. My mom took my younger and older sister to where my dad worked at Hawkins Lab. I don’t know all the details, but there was an explosion. Instant no family. I’ve been compensated, as you can see. I sold my parents house and moved in here. Was a long time ago.”

El was close to tears.  _ I think I’m the cause of that explosion. _

“She sleeps with you?”

He laughed, “She owns the bed. It’s more like I sleep with her. I sleep with Frankenstein. Should be a movie.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

_ You know what Eleven. Just go for it. Worse that can happen is a  _ no.

“Mike… I am very attracted to you.” 

El didn’t realize how close she had been sitting to him, she leaned over and parted her lips.

She gave him a soft ever so slightly wet kiss.

She heard him sigh. “I’ve wanted to do that since you returned my key. It meant you believed me and knew that I wasn’t lying to you.”

“Friends don’t lie.”

“No they don’t… I’d like to be… well, more than friends, actually, but friends for sure… we could… um, go slow… or something.”

“I don’t want to go slow.”

“No? Um, ok… I’m not sure what to do… I’ve never been in any kind of relationship before.”

“We make out on your futon till we can’t stand it anymore. Then we go to bed.”

El was happy to see that he blushed. He wasn’t a player. You can’t fake that.

“Uh…”

“It’s ok Mike. Me either. We’ll figure it out together ok?”

  
  



	3. Cat Food Bandits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I get a critical review on a story I've worked hard on, it kind of takes the wind out of my sails. As you could tell, my posting dried up. The review was valid, and it pointed out things that I do probably a little too much. But still...
> 
> Anyway, it was obvious my heart wasn't really in this one, but I'm finishing it off, rather than pulling it.

El’s head lay on Mike’s chest the next morning. “I noticed that Frankie respectfully left us to our own devices.”

No sooner had El mentioned the cat’s name when she was on the bed trying to snuggle between them.

“Ok, what’s with the name?”

“Frankie?”

“Yes Frankie.” The cat looked between them.

“There’s an old British science-fiction show called Red Dwarf. Keeping the intro short… the main character has a cat called… uh the full name, on a mining ship. He’s not allowed to have it so he’s put into stasis. Accident aboard the ship he’s not revived until three million years later. The cat evolved to a humanoid form… Watched it as a kid. I liked the name for a cat, considering everything she’s been through. She’s family.”

_ That’s the second time he’s said that. I want to be in his family. I think I’m in love with him. He’s like the perfect guy. Smart, funny, sexy as hell, and let’s face it, he’s really, I mean I _ really _ good looking. _

“Um, El?”

“Yes, Mike?”

“I, um… I don't want this to be a one time thing. I would like to see you again… on a regular basis.”

“I wasn’t just here for the sex Mike… don’t get me wrong… it was… very good.. A girl doesn’t run across many guys like you. I think I got lucky. I feel like you are a reward for everything I’ve had to go through.”

“I feel like you have a secret. You aren’t in this building on a police officer’s salary, that’s for sure. But it can wait. If you want to be with me… I don’t even need to know… at least, I mean, I want to know everything about you but it doesn’t have to be today… or any time soon for that matter. I… just want to be with you.”

“Ok, let me ease your mind. You  _ are _ with me. We are together. If you are ok with that for now, so am I. It won’t be forever Mike. Just for now.”

“I can live with that if we get to fall asleep in each other’s arms every night.” Mike said.

“Every night.”

  
  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“I’m off at nine. Meet me at the police station?”

“Ok.” They kissed for a while, El sighed. “It’s going to be hard to leave you everyday to go to work.”

Mike laughed. “I miss you already and you’re still here. Be careful ok?”

“Always. I want to come home to you every night.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Mike went up to the front desk, “Hi, I’m here to see El Hopper?”

“You must be the young man she can’t stop talking about,” Flo smiled at him. “She’s in the Chief’s office.” She pointed.

“Thank you.”

Mike knocked on the door. A smiling El opened it for him. She was wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt and looked all sweaty. “Dad, this guy was sitting on the brownstone steps with a bag of cat food.”

Hopper looked up. “That’s not the guy, that’s Mike Wheeler.”

“You know him?” El looked back and forth between Mike and her dad.

“Lab explosion.” Mike said.

“Oh… right.” El lowered her eyes.

“What can I help you with Wheeler?” He looked at his daughter standing very close to Mike. He made the connection.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to know you are living across the hall from each other.”

“Dad… we are seeing each other.”

“If it’s even halfway serious, there are things he needs to know, El.”

“I know dad… it’s going to be hard to dredge all that up again.”

“He needs to know.”

She nodded solemnly.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  
  


El couldn’t stop herself from crying when she was halfway through her story. Mike had his arm around her the entire time they were walking back to the brownstone. She didn’t expect Mike to break down also. He already had enough grief in his life, he didn’t need to take on hers also.

“I can’t believe that psycho Brenner thought you were telekinetic. I think maybe he read too many comic books as a kid. What could possibly make him think something like that?”

El was silent.

“Wait… you aren’t saying you are actually… um, telekinetic. Like Jean Grey from X-Men?”

“You, sir, are too much of a nerd. I don’t know who you are talking about. But if she’s telekinetic, then yes. I’m like her.”

This time Mike was silent.

El smiled at him. “You don’t believe me do you?”

“Finding it tough… but a demo goes a long way… whoa whoa.” Mike looked terrified, he was floating about a foot off the ground.

“Demo it is.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“You took a big risk telling me and showing me that. What if we break up?”

“We don’t break up.”

Mike nodded. “I feel very strongly about you right now. I can’t see that ever going away. I mean, I guess every couple starts off that way… but… I don’t… this feels different.”

“It  _ is  _ different, Mike. I can feel it. I never thought I’d feel this way about anybody. Scary and fun at the same time.”

“Don’t look now, but there’s a guy on the front steps with a bag of cat food. Hmm, looks like he has a cohort off in the shadows there.” Mike said, sounded a little worried.

“These must be the guys Mike. Stay here, I’m trained to deal with this.”

Mike could hear the lines the guy used, almost identical to what he did. No wonder she was suspicious. She used the same line, “You know I can’t let you in.”

He nodded and said, “Just take the bag and feed him. I’ll wait.”

_ I’ll bet you will.  _ Mike thought.

The guy lunged for El. That was all he was able to do, he was screaming in agony rolling around on the ground. Mike didn’t quite know what happened because it was so fast. The guy in the shadows much bigger than El, charged her. And then  _ he _ was on the ground, his scream much lower pitched than the first guy.

El pulled out her police radio, “This is Officer Hopper, I need an ambulance at my apartment. First individual, has two broken knees, a left dislocated elbow, and right dislocated shoulder.”

Mike heard some static.

“I know these are the injuries because I caused them. Second individual has at least four broken ribs, and one broken shin. Same reason.”

Mike smiled at her. “You are scary on two fronts.” He nodded towards the groaning criminals. “I guess I you really weren’t in any danger from me.”

“What’s the other scary?”

“You are scary pretty El.”

El smiled at him. “That will get you some mister.”


End file.
